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An Attorney General Targeted

In 1919, after a series of bomb attacks — one on his own home — Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer set up a new division within the Justice Department. Known as the “Radical Division,” its goal was to identify people who posed a threat to the U.S. social stability, particularly anarchists. And though initially the raids were celebrated, it seemed to many Americans that this was too extreme a violation of civil liberties. The Bombing of Wall Street filmmaker Susan Bellows introduces A. Mitchell Palmer

When perpetrators planted a bomb on Wall Street on September 16, 1920, they were targeting the epicenter of American finance. From fortification to occupation, here’s a look at the history of Wall Street.